Florida Parish News

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) spoke in Washington, D.C., alongside Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), Conference Chairwoman Lisa McClain (R-Mich.), House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.), and House Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Mike Simpson (R-Idaho). The group addressed what they described as Democrats prioritizing opposition to former President Trump over reopening the government.

Scalise contrasted the actions of Congressional Republicans with those of Democrats. “Republicans wake up every day, working with President Trump to try to get this country moving forward, to address and fix problems that, frankly, were created by Democrats. What does the Democrat Party do every single day? Every day, they wake up and just see what President Trump is doing and find a way to oppose it. It doesn't matter what he wants to do,” said Scalise.

He highlighted policy areas such as border security, tax policy, and energy production. “President Trump came into office day one, said he's going to secure America's border – was actually elected on it overwhelmingly. 80% of the American people agreed with President Trump and House and Senate Republicans, who said that should be a priority. We actually set course to do that, and we have done just that: secured America's border. What did Democrats do every step of the way? They said no. They voted no to secure the border.”

On tax issues, Scalise stated: “President Trump said we're going to try to get our economy back on track. We're going to stabilize the tax code so that no American family has a tax increase... Let's stabilize the tax code and have no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, so blue-collar workers can actually have more money in their pockets and empower them to do more for their families... What did every Democrat in Washington say? No.”

He also referenced energy policy: “President Trump said we ought to produce more energy in America... Congress and President Trump worked together to lower prices at the pump. Every American family today is benefiting from those great policies because they're paying less when they fill up their car every single day... But because President Trump said yes, what did every Democrat say? No.”

Scalise criticized Democratic leadership: “This is a sick and twisted, and lost, rudderless ship of a political party. That's who we're dealing with... when the party is so rudderless and morally bankrupt, that just because President Trump has an idea, the Democrat Party's visceral reaction is just to say no.”

He continued: “[Democrats] say no to everything he does because they just are angry about the results of the election from last year... How do I work to help improve the lives of Americans? He goes and finds a way to say yes. Because he says yes, Democrats find a way to say no. It's a disgrace.”

Scalise pointed out consequences related to government funding lapses impacting SNAP benefits: “It's a disgrace, but now it's having real impacts on American families. With this shutdown... The USDA sent a letter to all of the states saying, 'If the current lapse in appropriations continues, there will be insufficient funds to pay full November SNAP benefits for approximately 42 million individuals across the nation.' 42 million people across America are going to suffer from those SNAP benefits that they count on right before Thanksgiving because Chuck Schumer and Democrats are so angry with President Trump that they just want to find a way to say no.”

He noted local impact in Louisiana: “Over 800,000 people in my home state of Louisiana get food benefits through the SNAP program.”

Regarding Senator Ossoff’s actions in Georgia during budget negotiations: “Yesterday, we talked about Senator Ossoff... he's more afraid of if he votes to open the government, he will lose the clicks he's getting from foreign states in the small donor donations that add up to about $3 million... 1.4 million people are going to face losing SNAP benefits just in his home state.” Scalise questioned whether campaign donations influenced Ossoff’s decisions.

Steve Scalise represents Louisiana’s 1st district in Congress since 2008 after succeeding Bobby Jindal; prior roles include service in both chambers of Louisiana’s legislature from 1996 through 2008. Born in New Orleans in 1965, Scalise currently resides in Jefferson and holds a BS degree from Louisiana State University.